46 



THE GAME BREEDER 



quail to whistle "bob-white" from the 

 tree tops all day long in the autumn, at 

 least, when it is too cold for nesting and 

 the love notes of the bird, these two im- 

 portant matters were referred to the 

 standing committee on^ nature fakes and 

 fakers at the last board meeting of the 

 Game Conservation Society. The com- 

 mittee was instructed to proceed to 

 Yonkers by subway and trolley and to 

 report on the remarkable phenomena. 



The Protective Association Bulletin. 



The new issue of the bulletin of the 

 American Game Protective Association 

 is a very good one. It opens, naturally, 

 with an article expressing the wish of 

 the association that the test of the con- 

 stitutionality of the migratory bird law in 

 the Supreme Court may result favorably. 

 A long list of other protective associa- 

 tions which have endorsed the law is 

 given. There is a picture of the three 

 canvas backs, reared in captivity, which 

 were pictured on the cover of the Octo- 

 ber Game Breeder. The bulletin has at- 

 tempted to surround the ducks with a 

 water background with a few rocks in 

 the foreground. The artistic effort does 

 not add to the value of the photograph. 



There is a list of the birds owned by a 

 few State game farms and by a very few 

 of the readers of The Game Breeder. 

 This is termed a game census. 



Noisy Refuges. 



The editor of the bulletin will be in- 

 terested to learn that many readers of 

 The Game Breeder now shoot, every 

 season, in "noisy refuges," as many quail 

 as are produced in a year by the com- 

 bined efforts of all those named in the 

 bulletin. We have seen the records of 

 thousands of quail shot on some inex- 

 pensive places in a few days. We ex- 

 amined the stock birds left in the fields 

 and in some cases they were too abund- 

 ant. Although many are driven out and 

 are shot by local and visiting gunners, 

 there is no donger of extinction, because 

 always there are plenty of quail left after 

 the shooting season ends — not for ver- 

 min, but to nest in quiet and produce 

 their kind for another year's shooting. 

 The interesting part of the matter is that 



the shooting is now going on and has 

 been for some years, and the birds show 

 an increase in numbers every season. 

 This is far better than to live in the 

 hope that "in time" some "quiet refuges" 

 will produce some birds which may come 

 out and be shot. 



We have pointed out often that the 

 number which will come out of a "noisy 

 sanctuary" is much bigger than the num- 

 ber which will come out of the "quiet 

 refuges" so persistently advocated by the 

 bulletin. To be candid, we like the noise 

 both inside and outside of the noisy 

 sanctuary better than the quiet hope that 

 some day there may be something doing 

 around the border of a refuge if all the 

 farms are not posted. 



There is room enough, however, for 

 all sorts of experiments and we are in 

 favor of more posted farms or refuges 

 for those who like them, only asking 

 that they be not opposed to the noisy 

 places which really take up a smaller 

 area than the area of the farms where 

 no shooting is permitted. 



Quail Clubs. 



Our readers now have many quail 

 clubs where the dues are small enough 

 for any one. They range from $2.00 up. 

 On the $2.00 ground they have some 

 pheasants, and rabbits galore. 



Fifteen dollar clubs are becoming 

 fashionable and some of these have 

 ruffed grouse. Fifty dollar clubs and the 

 hundred dollar clubs, where good, big 

 bags are made, are well worth the money. 

 One or two dollars per week is not very 

 much to pay for good shooting during a 

 long, open season. When the game can 

 be sold in the New York markets the 

 dues should be much reduced, of course. 

 We are more and more convinced that 

 the best way to have plenty of quail at 

 small expense is to breed them wild in 

 fields made safe and attractive. Some 

 very interesting experiments will be 

 made on new grounds in several States 

 the coming season. 



We are not opposed to the interesting 

 hand-rearing experiments conducted by 

 our readers. Any little helps to produce 

 "more game." We are interested, also, 

 in many small commercial breeders ; in 



